Auribus Teneo Lupum
by auburnmaven
Summary: Sometimes, you can get what you want the most in the strangest of ways, at the worst of times.


**Auribus Teneo Lupum- **_I hold a wolf by the ears_

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Sakura's short and keyed up breaths could be heard anywhere in her apartment (if anyone were there, that is) as she tore through her closet at a fast pace, everything being tossed either on her bed or in a garbage in the center of the already cluttered room. After only a few minutes the closet was almost empty. The bed was covered in plain tops, undershorts, jackets (not that it ever got all that cold in Fire Country anyway), basic shoes for all types of climate and combat situations, the uniform shinobi pants, and all her official Chunin and Jonin vests.

Sakura looked everything on the bed over again, trying to pick out any articles that would not be of use. She then looked at her garbage and frowned. Next to all the bright, frilly looking things in the garbage can, the bed seemed bare and boring. She decided to go through everything that was in the garbage before tossing it out in case she lost something she'd really need later. She almost flinched when she realized that everything she was touching was either something she hadn't worn in years, or something she'd never gotten the opportunity to wear at all.

The four-inch pink strappy heals that Ino had insisted she buy for when they got old enough to hit the clubs remained in the toss pile, as did all her silly underwear she wore around the house on her off days, the ungodly number of slightly revealing and bright shirts, skirts, dresses, shoes that were both impractical and painful, the list went on and on. She was about to give up when something caught her eye. A dress, simple and elegant, was on the bottom of the can rumpled and small looking.

She pulled it out, holding the sad looking bunch of cloth up to get a better look. It was clearly from her Chunin days. The dress revealed areas on her shoulders that had been jagged and rough with scars of battle. It is a well kept secret that the most effective place to hit a medic-nin was the dead center of the Trapezius muscle.

This one area just below the skin was the section of chakra highway that brought the precise controlled chakra necessary for medical jutsu from the center of the body to the hands. If this area is blocked off, all medical jutsu is impossible. Sakura sighed. It was a helpless feeling. No healing, no chakra scalpels, nothing. Ever since she achieved Jonin rank she had fought criminals and other shinobi who knew about this area and once they ascertained what exactly her specialty was, went for that spot with all their might. She usually managed to dodge just enough so that it missed by mere _centimeters_. Needless to say, she had all kinds of awkward looking burns, cuts, and other such mess under her left shoulder (and a little under her right from a _good_ day and a badly aimed attack). Sakura twitched in irritation. The rest of her body had almost flawless skin, but on the one GODDAMNED area, it was like looking at a minefield of skin.

But this was all beside the point. She looked the dress over again, and still had no memory of it. The print was white with cherry blossom petals were spread throughout. It would go down to her knees. The halter top would be tied behind her neck. Not exactly high end, but definitely not cheap. She remembered wearing it out when the times were good and weather was nice. But where did she get it? She closed her eyes and dug through her memories.

Then it hit her. A smile adorned her face. Of course, how could she forget?

_"Sakura-sensei. Sakura-sensei! SAKURA-SENSEI!!!"_

_Sakura jerked up at the sudden sensation of having her shoulders shaken. Irritation at whoever was WAKING HER THE FUCK UP replaced any and all relaxation she was feeling a moment earlier. "A package came for you." She blinked in disbelief for a moment. "You woke me up for a fucking PACKAGE?!?" The medical intern cocked his head to the side as if recalling on something from a while ago. "Well, Shizune-sensei sent me to get you because that patient-the one with the kunai practically severing his spine- he went into cardiac arrest, and they need your help with a surgery, or maybe it was one of those special stitches you do-or something..." He trailed off, and then started again."Anyway, someone put a package on your desk and I'd thought I'd point it out."_

_Her jaw dropped and she instantly had to push down the urge to yank out his ribcage and wear it as a hat. She just stared at the incredibly arrogant genin who clearly didn't run to get her for what was pretty obviously an emergency situation, and to top the whole thing off, he didn't even have all the facts straight. Then there was the fact that she was sure she had ink on her face. She had fallen asleep while she was transferring all her patient's notes to their files. After a thirty hour shift, she had just slammed her head on all her papers in exhaustion. Finally her brain caught up with her and she went into action._

_It took a grand total of three and a half seconds for her to be outside the hallway barking out orders. "Report this to Tsunade, we may need her if the patient has debris that we missed. Make sure to tell her that it's definitely a valid excuse to leave some paperwork not done, she'll jump on that one-"_

_"But I want to know what's in the-"_

_"WOULD YOU FORGET ABOUT THE DAMNED PACKAGE?!?!" Something in her tone must have portrayed just how thin the ice he was standing on was because he was gone in an instant at top speed. Sakura flew down the stairs from the office floor to the surgical floor in record time._

_It wasn't until four hours later that she finally reentered the office. Four hours of leaning over this poor man's' chest with Tsunade and Shizune removing nearly invisible bone fragments from his damaged organs. Dear God, she was exhausted._

_She sat in her chair and slammed her head on to her desk, ready to collapse on her paperwork for a second time when she noticed a plain brown package sitting on her desk. She remembered what the intern had said earlier and picked it up. It looked completely messy and rushed. She remembered seeing a similar wrapping style twice before. Each time had been a birthday gift wrapped by Naruto._

_A small, amused smile graced her features. What was he up to now? She unwrapped it hurriedly, overwhelmed by curiosity. She was half expecting confetti to pop out and litter her entire office, but shockingly enough, there was only a tissue covered small parcel. She continued to unwrap it, still hesitating slightly, but then gasped. A beautiful dress that looked to be just her size, white with pink cherry blossom petals, was folded neatly under all the tissue paper. She spent a few minutes simply looking at it in shock. Naruto couldn't afford this._

_She noticed a small note in the bottom of the box. She unfolded it and read the familiar messy handwriting._

Hey Sakura-chan,

We haven't seen you in a while 'cause you've been working so hard in the hospital, so we thought we'd get you something to cheer you up and let you have something to look forward to using when you finally take some time off.

Kakashi-sensei picked it out (something about knowing women on whole different level, or something), Me, Sai, and Kakashi-sensei all chipped in. We tried to find Yamato-sensei and Ino-chan but they were both on missions.

We miss you, take a break and hang out with us! We can get Ramen together!

-Naruto

_Tears began to sting the corners of her eyes. She wasn't sure if it was exhaustion or joy, but at that point she didn't care. Her team missed her. They missed her and they were proud of her. She hugged the dress to her chest and held on to that feeling with her whole being._

When Sakura was finally drawn out of her memory she was hugging the dress to her chest again, just like she did all those years ago. No, she couldn't throw this away. It would come with her. She sat on her bed and stared at her wall.

Could she go through with this? She wouldn't see them for months at a time, maybe even over a year. She was being given an incredible opportunity. Being appointed to Captain of one of the Konoha outposts in one of the other countries was an honor that had never, in the history of Konoha, been given to a woman, or anyone as young as her. It was a daring choice for Tsunade, but the people of the village where excited about it. The reputation of the rookie nine (team Gai was known in and of itself) were well known and well trusted. The higher ups didn't like it, but due to Sakura's popularity they were hard pressed to do anything about it.

Tsunade made it clear that this would by no means be an easy job. At no point in time will she be allowed to send or receive letters. She would not stay at the same outpost for more than a few months at a time. The staff of each outpost was switched so often so that if there was a war with the country that outpost was in, the country would not know just the right ninja to send to clean them out.

It was a system devised after the Third Great Ninja War. It made keeping the peace a great deal easier once the system was perfected. While the ninja staffing the places where not public knowledge and neither are their current locations, the identities of the captains are public knowledge. Due to the importance of their positions, outpost captains are lucky if they see home every six months. When things get politically tense, they usually aren't sent home for over a year.

They're where other details that sweetened the deal. The only shinobi in the village with higher pay were the Anbu Captains, the elders, and the Hokage herself. Besides, it was a time of peace. During a time of peace, outpost captains only had the duties of supervising the delivery mail between their home nation and their current host nation, monitoring trade, and keeping communication between the two nations quick clear.

If another war broke out however… Sakura visibly twitched, then ran her hands through her hair. She would worry about that if it happened. She had already decided to take this job. Her boys didn't need her anymore. Naruto was widely known as one of the most powerful shinobi in the world, and still getting stronger all the time. Not to mention he had just gotten married to a women who was deeply in love and devoted to him. (She still needed to hear how he **ever **managed to convince Hinata's father to agree to such a thing.)

Sasuke was home. That on its own was enough. He wasn't being forced to stay. Well, Tsunade obviously made it very clear that if she even thought he would pull any of his old crap, she would have every single available shinobi make it their first priority to bring his head to her on stick. Sakura was pretty sure that didn't scare him. Sasuke had his second chance, he was living it. Tsunade was not shy about the fact that Sasuke was alive for two reasons; his name and his team. Konoha lost a lot of ninja during the conflict with the Akatsuki. (Sakura shivered, she didn't even want to think about that.) They needed something to get one up on the other villages so that they wouldn't seem vulnerable. The restoration of one of the most powerful and well known Kekkei Genkai's Konoha has ever had was perfect.

The conditions were harsh. The first thing that Tsunade ordered when Sasuke walked into their custody was she had Anbu restrain him with chakra ropes and she blinded him with an incredibly complicated seal that blocked and shut down his Sharingan. Naruto barged into her office almost instantly, completely furious. Sakura was already in Tsunade's office, shocked into silence at what she just heard Tsunade had done to Sasuke, but turned when Naruto just started yelling.

"_You didn't even bother to listen to what he had to say! We have begged him to come home at every turn for the last four years! For what?! So you could hold him down and make him blind before you even know why he's here?!?! You can't just-"_

"_WRONG."_

_Naruto and Sakura both stiffened at her tone._ _Her voice wasn't raised, but it still commanded complete attention. She wasn't angry. They had seen her angry, they had seen her smash furniture and yell at people for making stupid mistakes. This wasn't angry. She hadn't moved a muscle. She was still standing, but leaning over her desk with her fists clenched, and she was looking directly at Naruto._

"_My responsibility is not to respect the wishes of a traitor. My responsibility is to protect the people of this village."_

"_You don't know if he-"_

"_THAT IS THE POINT. WE DON'T KNOW ANYTHING."_

_Naruto opened his mouth, ready to reply but didn't get the chance when Tsunade spoke again._

"_YOU WILL NOT INTERUPT ME AGAIN." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before speaking._

"_We had no way of knowing if he was here to help us, or attack us. The simple fact of the matter is that if he had attacked us, he could have taken lives .HE COULD HAVE KILLED YOUR FRIENDS. If he came to help us, then I am truly sorry, and when he has earned the trust of this village back, I will undo the seal. I was entrusted with the care of this village and its citizens. It was MY call and no one else's. I will not apologize for doing what I had to do to make sure this village is kept safe."_

_Then there was silence. Tsunade's eyes softened, and she looked at her desk. "For what it's worth, if he wasn't your teammate he wouldn't be alive." _

_Then she left, and Naruto and Sakura where alone together. They stayed frozen like that for a while. Naruto whispered, maybe for the first time in his life, "This is what we've wanted."_

Sakura leaned back on her bed, lying on all her things. She covered her face with her hands. Why were all these memories coming back to her now? Was it because she was leaving? She took a deep breath and stood up, halting all the thoughts she felt coming to the surface after weeks of inner conflict.

She reminded herself that Sasuke was doing fine. He was released by the Anbu after he swore before the council that he would do everything in his power to help undo the damage he had done to the village, and that he would not abandon his duties again under pain of death. However; when asked why he came back, he had no answer. If he had been anyone else, he would have been killed, or thrown in a cell for the rest of his life. Possibly something worse. But Sasuke got his second chance. He would spend the first six months on house arrest, the next six months he would be allowed to roam the village and would be required to assist the village within its own walls. After a year, he would only be allowed to go outside the village with permission. He would be go on S-Class missions with a high risk of fatality when he was told, and on that there was no negotiation.

He was living in the Uchiha compound. Sasuke used his first six months to fix the place up. It wasn't hard and it gave him something to do. It was also an excellent way to get used to his blindness. His eyes still had that rich obsidian color, they just seemed to be empty now. Sakura and Naruto visited him every Sunday. They brought whatever food he needed. Sakura looked over any wounds he received from his housework or training, and they talked. Sakura was surprised. She expected coldness and anger. He still wasn't exactly sunshine and rainbows, but he listened when they talked to him, usually about current events around the village or a mission one of them had just been on. He would occasionally inject his opinion; and he never asked them to leave. When it was just the two of them, he would face her intently.

At first she thought he wasn't listening, but he absorbed everything they both told him. He refused to talk about himself. When she asked about him (Naruto had long since given up on that front), he flat out refused to answer and would leave the room.

He had been off house arrest for a month. He now walked around a lot. All the time. He meet with them whenever they arranged it, but he only ever really went home to sleep and heat. He just walked around all over the village. He hadn't been given any official tasks yet, but it was a matter of time. It took a while to figure out what he was doing. He was memorizing the village. Every inch of it. He was walking around so that he knew exactly where everything was, who was there, at what time things happened on the daily basis, everything he could. Sakura was impressed. He had found a way to make up for his blindness be knowing his surroundings better than any invader possibly could. It was perfect.

Sakura looked on the bed again. She loved her team, her boys, but they didn't exactly need her anymore. Naruto had Hinata to look after him now. To make sure that he ate enough besides Ramen and didn't wear the same dirty outfit before it had been cleaned. He was building a family and was well on his way to keeping his promise to become Hokage one day.

Sasuke was in the village, Naruto would keep an eye on him, and he had Anbu tailing him every hour of every day (although they weren't supposed to know about that)in case an old enemy came for him. He was adjusting amazingly well to his blindness, and he didn't seem to have any intention of leaving again.

Now it was time to further her own career. She had the greatest opportunity imaginable knocking at her door and had no intention of letting it just pass her by. She had a week before she left, and had to get all her essentials packed and ready. So she wrapped up her white dress, put it on the bed, and got back to work.

* * *

Sakura woke up the next morning at around five. Even though Tsunade had ordered to go home and try to get as much rest as possible before leaving (seeing she won't be getting much sleep on her way to her first outpost), her body still kept waking up for rounds at the hospital.

She got out of bed and put on her work out clothes. She was up, might as well make use of her time and go for a run. She was nearly done going through and packing all her stuff anyways. Only what was absolutely necessary, with a few exceptions.

She had only allowed herself to bring things that would really need if they had been given to her by someone she cares about. It really only boiled down to that white dress with pink petals that team seven had gotten her, a beautiful drawing that Sai had made for her birthday (that one took her by surprise), the fancy kunai kit that Kakashi-sensei had gotten her when she made jonin (it had long since worn out, but she wouldn't throw it out), and all the flower printed journals Lee had gotten her for her birthday's and promotions. Whenever Naruto took part in a celebration, he always took her out wherever she wanted to go (when he started earning enough money to go somewhere other than the local ramen stand).

She started her run when she got to the track outside the village. She had loved the run ever since Lee had convinced her to start doing it every morning so that she would feel energized the rest of the day. She finally gave in and started getting up a whole hour earlier to run around the village a few times. By the time she got to work she felt completely awake and ready to go, and even slept better that night.

She had to give it up when she started her fellowship at the hospital. Her time became monopolized by the medical aspect of her career. She hardly ever got to see her friends besides Ino. Sakura and Ino both worked at the hospital so they usually spent lunch together every day. They usually got to gossip about other hospital staff members or which patients had the most interesting problems.

While Ino was still doing her residency, she was really proud of Sakura for her record breaking success. She usually said something along the lines of, "I'll always be the hot one!" Sakura stopped running to laugh, god she would miss Ino.

She finally started heading home when the sun came up. She felt good. She felt ready to finish up her packing and say goodbye to her parents and all her friends. Sakura stopped, leaning against the wall of her apartment complex. That's right, her parents. They wanted to have a dinner with her before she left. She hadn't spent any real time with them in a few years. Her mother had complained that she would never get any grandchildren.

Sakura groaned. Her mother was eccentric, but not wrong. Once she left for this job, she was giving up any chance of achieving her childhood dream of marrying the perfect man, retiring from her job, and having a dozen little ones under foot. That was the choice she made long ago. Konoha came first, always. She had worked hard to be the best. She had earned place among the elite. Her career was her baby. That was that.

When she pulled herself up from the wall, she was surprised to see Sasuke standing a few feet away from her, looking in her direction (a sign that he had noticed her, obviously he wasn't actually looking at her). She blinked, taken a back at his sudden appearance. He was dressed casually, a sleeveless black shirt that revealed the muscular arms of someone who spent their entire lives in their line of work, his pants and sandals were also black, but more reminiscent of his days on Sound. As always, his kusanagi was tied around his waist. "Isn't it a little early to explore?"

"I wasn't exploring."

"Shopping then? None of the stores are open yet." Anyone else would have thought that she was being sarcastic or cruel, but they knew each other well enough for him to know that she was genuinely trying to help get where he needed to go.

"I came to speak with you."

Sakura blinked several times in succession this time. That was odd, he never visited anywhere on a whim (with one huge exception).

"Really? What for? Is something wrong?"

She immediately went into medic-nin mode, walking forward and reaching for his eyes. He caught her wrists with his hands.

"It's not that."

"Oh? What is it?" She paused, she was thirsty from her run and this clearly wasn't an emergency. She should invite him up. "You mind if we go into my apartment?" He nodded his assent and followed her up the stairs into her place.

She immediately went to the kitchen and got herself a glass of water. "Can I get you anything?"

"No."

"Alright then." She downed her glass, probably not a good idea if she was dehydrated. Whatever. She was thirsty. She turned her attention back to Sasuke.

"What do you need to talk about?"

"Why didn't you tell me you were appointed to outpost captain?"

Sakura lifted herself up to sit on her kitchen counter. "I told you I was accepting a new job offer."

Sasuke snorted. He was now wondering all over her living room, touching everything with his fingertips. If it were anyone else, Sakura would be annoyed. But this was Sasuke's way of getting to know his surroundings as of late.

"You failed to mention that the job you were taking was one of the most prestigious and dangerous positions of all the Shinobi ranks."

Sakura arched her eyebrow. "So I did. Why does it matter?" She felt the familiar sense of disappointment coming to the surface, but ignored it in favor of anger. Did he think she wasn't capable?

He stopped moving. The lines around his eyes creased. "Why would you accept such a proposal? You should be here in Konoha."

Sakura felt heat rush to her face, furious. "I will go wherever I am needed to protect the people I love."

Sasuke sighed. "You're missing the point."

"And what point is that?" She wasn't going to make this any easier for him. He was going to have to say it.

"Would you quit being belligerent and just do as I ask?"

Sakura jumped off of her counter and got in his face so that he could feel her anger radiating off of her. "Who the hell do you think you are to demand such a thing of me?!"

Sakura was so frustrated with him she was shaking. So his opinion of her had not changed. He still thought she was weak.

"You clearly don't have a grasp on your own abilities if you are willing to put yourself in a position that puts you against Shinobi whose abilities far outmatch your own."

Sakura couldn't even speak for a moment. "How dare you! You know nothing about me or what I'm capable of!"

Sasuke tilted his head towards her. He was now at least a foot taller than her, being the same height in their youth, it still surprised her that he had to lean down to be facing her.

"I know more about you than you think."

"BULLSHIT. YOU LEFT! YOU LEFT ME BEHIND LIKE I WAS NOTHING! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO-"

Sakura stopped instantly, catching her mistake. "I meant you left us behind." She knew that it was too late, she had revealed too much.

An awkward silence fell, and Sasuke said nothing, still facing her. Sakura walked to the other side of the room, running her fingers through her hair. They had been doing so well. She had thought that her anger towards him had faded. That was clearly not the case. Damn it, she needed him gone so she could think.

"Look, we're both clearly upset. We've both said things we don't mean. You should go, I have work to do anyway-"

"I'm not leaving."

Sakura paused, confused.

"I have meant everything I have said."

Sakura felt her temper flare up again. She was ready to scream again when he interrupted her, his face still completely stoic. "And so have you."

Sakura had no reply. She could only stare at him. Another awkward silence fell.

"Sasuke, this is a great opportunity. It's good for me, and it's good for my village. I've already accepted this position, and I'm leaving in three days. I'm sorry you don't think me capable, but Tsunade thinks differently. Whether you approve or not-"

"No."

Sakura found herself taken a back again. That was happening to often today.

"What do you mean, 'No'?"

Sasuke frowned. He had a look that said he was questioning her intelligence.

"I mean you're not leaving Konoha."

Now she was both angry and confused. Mostly confused.

"Sasuke, you've lost me. Speak plainly. What do you want?"

"I thought I was being clear."

"You thought wrong." She was already emotionally exhausted and the day had barely started. She thought they were passed this. This conflict that had bubbled beneath the surface of their relationship since the first time she dared to think they were equals. Apparently he still held this attitude that no matter what she achieved; she had no place by his side, in combat or in any other way. She had just been too blinded by her happiness that he was home. What a fool she was.

Apparently they had the same thought, because the next words out of his mouth were, "Stop being so foolish."

"That tells me nothing. Now you're just pissing me off. Don't play games with me, we're not twelve and I'm not your simpering fan girl. Answer me or get out."

Sasuke was in front of her in seconds. Leaning over her and grabbing her wrists stopping her automatic defense mechanism of gathering chakra in her hands. Sakura was leaning back, the tip of the back of head against the wall. His next words came out harsh through grated teeth.

"I am not playing games with you **Sakura**." He dragged out her name like she was a child who wasn't paying attention.

She knew that he was stronger than her, but at this moment she didn't care. He had no right to tell her what to do, and if he thought that he could scare her into doing what he wanted, he could needed a serious wake-up call.

"You have thirty seconds to let me go, Sasuke." There was no mistaking her tone. She was challenging him. She knew the right buttons to push.

He was squeezing her wrists. He was now holding them in front of her, squeezing harder and harder by the second. She hissed in pain. They would break soon. "Or you'll do what?" fifteen seconds.

He was angry now, and she knew it. But this was about boundaries, and she was pissed off herself.

"You have ten seconds."

Then Sasuke smirked at her.

Oh, she was **so** going to teach him a lesson.

Then his time was up and she jumped up, kicked off the table, and rammed herself into that beautiful face of his. She felt her one of her wrists snap, but she was expecting that. Her healing chakra gathered there the moment Sasuke let her go out of surprise.

When she regained her balance, she looked at Sasuke. He had managed to stop the momentum she had sent his way by taking a fighting stance, and gathering a little chakra to his feet. He was facing forward, the look on his face unreadable. He stood as well, and touched the small line of blood running down his chin from his bottom lip. Sakura grunted, she wasn't going to heal him, that's for sure.

"Sasuke, what do you want?" She was beyond rage now. She wanted to physically hurt him if he didn't get out of her home.

"Stay."

"No." She wasn't even hesitating now.

"I don't want to fight you, Sakura."

Sakura had now had enough. "You can't force me to stay because of my friendship with you."

"I can."

Sakura was amazed at his audacity. "Is that really how far you're willing to go over this?"

"Only if I have to."

"Done." For the first time during this whole conversation, he was the one taken a back.

She continued. "Let's fight tomorrow at noon, at our old training ground. It'll be just like old times. If I win, you **never** get to call me weak ever again." She really saw this has the only resolution. Sasuke didn't solve his problems with words, but if they solved this through violence, he would respect that. Besides, they hadn't fought in very many years. Since then, she had grown stronger and he had lost both his sharingan and his sight. He also severely underestimated her, and that was a huge advantage on its own. If she didn't make stupid mistakes, she could beat him.

They spent a moment in silence. "If I win, you stay."

Sakura grinned. "Deal."

* * *

"SAKURA. HURANO. HAVE. YOU. LOST. YOUR. MIND."

"Hello to you to, Ino." Sakura didn't even bother to look up from her salad. She had needed to stop by the hospital to pick up her stuff from her office. She decided to stop by the cafeteria for lunch.

Ino sat down in the seat across from her. "What possessed you to gamble your entire future on a fight with ONE OF THE MOST FEARED MISSING-NINS TO COME FROM THIS VILLAGE?"

Sakura was still perfectly calm, looked away from her salad at Ino. "You heard about that?"

Ino grunted. "Everybody heard." That didn't surprise Sakura. The Anbu tailing Sasuke had probably seen the whole altercation and babbled to everyone who would listen. Sakura rolled her eyes. Sakura muttered under her breath, "Super-secret-shinobi, my ass."

Sakura threw her fork into her salad and leaned back into her chair. "Great."

"Can we get back to my earlier question? Have you lost your mind?"

Sakura was leaning forward onto the table again. "Hey! He was out of line. He had the nerve to TELL me what I could and could not do, and he was just going on and on about how I, 'wasn't capable', and how I would be, 'clearly outmatched'. HE started the fight. He grabbed me first. I gave him full warning, and if I have to BEAT THE ARROGANCE OUT OF HIM, then I will."

Ino closed her eyes, and hit her covered her forehead with her left hand. "Sakura! He was obviously baiting you. He was probably trying to push your buttons to get you to do something stupid like, oh I don't know, PUTTING YOUR ENTIRE FURTURE ON THE LINE."

Sakura glared at her, but her tone was thoughtful. "I don't think that's what he was doing. He's always had this control issue. It's always been that way with him. Makes since when you consider what," she hesitated, "what happened when he was little. He needs to learn that I do not belong to him, and he knows nothing about me."

Ino smirked. "That, and if you beat him up enough, whether you won or not, he'll be in the hospital and will have no way of stopping you from leaving two days later."

Sakura picked her fork up again, going back to her salad, face impassive. "Well, there is that too."

* * *

The rest of her day was no better. Ino was only the first of a flood of her friends. She couldn't blame them for being concerned. By the time she got up around five the next morning she had already gotten visits from Naruto, Sai, Lee, her Mother, Shizune, and Ino. She got ready for another run.

Her time was a lot better today; she got back to her apartment building before the sun was completely up. She thought it would be nice to see the sun rise, so she went up to the roof. She shouldn't have been surprised to see someone already there. Kakashi was leaning against the railing of the edge of the roof. He was clearly engrossed in the 'Make-Out Paradise' in front of his face.

"Are you going to lecture me too?" Frankly she wasn't in the mood for it.

"Would you listen to me if I did?" He turned a page.

"Probably not." She was leaning on the rail next to her old sensei, facing the opposite direction and watching the sunrise.

"This is a bad idea. You know that, right? No matter what happens, it won't end well. " Another page. "But your almost eighteen now, I don't need tell you what to do anymore."

"He still thinks of me as that sad know-nothing Genin who cried in battle. This is about teaching him that I'm not that person any more. I'm better, I'm not weak." Her voice cracked at the last part. Page.

"I thought you were cute."

Sakura snorted. "Right."

"You realize that no matter what, Sasuke may never change his opinion of you."

Silence, then a page.

"Unless this is about proving something to yourself."

Sakura put her chin on the railing, watching as the sky began to shift from pink to orange.

"Then again, your judgment has always faltered whenever he gets involved."

"At least I'm over that RIDICULOUS infatuation." She almost shivered. She wished someone had slapped her back in those days. She loved Sasuke with all her heart, but in the same way she loved Naruto. They were her family.

Sakura could FEEL amusement coming from Kakashi in waves.

Page. "Maybe not, but he certainly gets under your skin."

Fine, two could play at that game. "When was the last time you saw him?"

More silence, but no page this time.

"A month ago?" She lifted herself off the rail, standing up straight.

"After he was released?" She was looking directly at him now.

"When he got back?" He still wasn't moving, but his exposed eye was staring intently at one spot on the page.

"Or was it before he left?" Then he was looking back at her. She had struck a nerve. She knew that he hadn't seen Sasuke once since the day he tied Sasuke to a tree and tried to convince him to abandon his current path. No one had pushed Kakashi on the matter of seeing Sasuke.

She was unapologetic. It was cruel, but he of all people had no right to lecture her on letting her personal feelings get in the way. Not when it came to Sasuke.

He changed the subject. "He's not doing this to hurt you."

She leaned her back against the rail, relaxing again. "Why then? There's clearly something here I'm not getting."

"He doesn't want to lose you."

"He lost me five years ago. He has no right."

"You keep saying, 'he has no right'. What do you mean by that?" He was still looking right at her.

"I mean he can't tell me what to do like he knows what's best for me." She stared back, challenging him.

"You let him do it before."

"That was a long time ago."

"Was it now?"

"Just say what you came here to say, sensei."

"I am, but you're so angry with yourself that you won't listen."

Sakura snorted again. "What am I angry with myself for?"

She already knew his answer. 'For not being strong enough to make him stay.' She'd heard it a million and one times. She couldn't have stopped him no matter what she did, she knew that. She was over it. He was home now anyways, what did it matter.

But he completely floored her. "For not being able to forgive him." Then he disappeared.

She was completely frozen, staring at the place where Kakashi used to be. After a few minutes, she shook herself out of it. She had forgiven him. He came back. That was enough. She found herself repeating that to herself over and over again until she made it to her old training ground at noon that day.

* * *

She shouldn't have been surprised to see a crowd of people already there, but she was. She mentally groaned. Just how fast had the rumor spread? Why did people care so much about this anyways?

Then she realized what it was. Of course, how did she not remember? No one had seem Sasuke in action since he got back. It was the Chunin exams all over again. They wanted to see just what the Last Uchiha could dish out after years as a missing-nin and two less sharingan.

There over twenty people here, maybe more. Some in trees, some standing up talking to each other, and some lounging in the shade. She found her eyes wander over the three achingly familiar stumps when she saw Naruto sitting on top of the one in the middle.

Sakura laughed, and walked up to him. She had to yell upward to get his attention. "Funny you should pick that stump."

Naruto grunted, "Yeah well, I'm sitting on it now. Hardly the same thing as being tied to it. Say isn't that the field where you fainted. TWICE."

Sakura threw her hands up. "Fair enough. Where's Hinata?"

Naruto pointed to a nearby tree where you could see three familiar figures shadowed under a shady spot under a large tree. "She wanted to hang with her old team. Not that I blame her, I know the feeling. It's going to be a nice change in pace, to see someone else beat some sense the teme for a change. Then again…" He looked around at all the people. "Looks like I'm not the only one."

Sakura looked around again. She saw all of the rookie nin, Lee, Tenten, Gai (Neji was probably on a mission, or didn't care either way), Shizune, Kurenai (who had brought her young daughter) and Genma. Everyone else she didn't know, or was well hidden in the trees.

She was ready to ask Naruto if he had seen Sasuke yet, when she was interrupted by a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Sasuke. Same outfit as yesterday, only with an irritated look. "Why are all these people here?"

Sakura looked around as everyone slowly became aware of Sasuke's presence and gave him and Sakura their complete attention. It only took a few moments for there to be complete silence.

Sakura took this opportunity to reply, so that all present could hear her. "They all want to see if the almighty Uchiha can still bring it." It wasn't mean or teasing (maybe a little teasing), it was a statement of fact. Sakura shrugged his hand off her shoulder. "Let's give them a show."

She was already gathering chakra to her hands. She was ready for this. She started running towards him.

"Wait."

Sakura almost tripped over herself. "What?!?! If you think your chickening out, then you're in for a surprise-"

"It's not that."

Sakura was really getting annoyed now. She wanted to get on with it. "What then?!"

"I'd like to alter the terms of our deal before we start."

Sakura tilted her head to the side and crossed her arms, only vaguely aware of the audience shifting with unrest. "How?"

"If you lose-"

"Which I won't."

"If you lose-" He completely ignored her previous interruption, although his voice was a little louder. Someone catcalled in a tree to the left, and Sakura made a note to beat the crap out of Kiba the next time she saw him. Sasuke started again.

"If you lose, then not only will you refuse the position of outpost captain and stay in Konoha, but you will retire and then-"

Sakura hissed. Loudly. Someone in the audience made a low whistle. Sakura made a note to beat the crap out of both Kiba AND Naruto the next time she saw them. Sasuke started for a third time.

"-and then you'll marry me."

To say that at that moment Sakura was shocked would be the equivalent of saying that Tsunade was a little testy, and occasionally indulged in a glass of Sake.

"Wh… wha… what?" It took her brain a moment to catch up with her words. Her body had gone slack and she was leaning forward. She probably looked ridiculous.

Sasuke's face was still completely passive, like he was asking to borrow her kunai.

"If you lose this fight, then you will retire from shinobi life and marry me."

Quiet. Complete quiet from Sakura, Sasuke, and the entire audience. She could have sworn she heard Naruto's jaw drop.

Then the shock wore off, and she felt something completely different. Not horror, not bliss (DEFINITLY not bliss), but complete and total rage. She had never been so filled with fury in her entire life. Her next words were barely above a whisper, but were dripping with venom all the same.

"How dare you. How dare you ask such a thing of me? You think that you can just walk into my life after all this time and just ask me to give up everything… You arrogant… You… You…"

Words failed her, and it only fueled the fire growing inside her belly that his face hadn't changed. His face was still passive and facing her with those empty eyes of his. Then she was resolute. She would teach him to demand such a thing of her.

"It doesn't matter. I won't lose. Let's finish this."

Next thing anyone knew, she was charging. Her ears where pumping with a deadly combination of rage and adrenaline. She could barely hear Lee cheering her on in the background, but she was in combat mode and there was nothing else in the world but her opponent.

Despite her impossible speed, Sasuke was still faster. By the time she closed the few feet between them, he was gone. Then she felt a shift in the air behind her. If he thought he could get away with the same old tricks, he was sorely mistaken. She gathered chakra to her elbow and turned, hitting his chest. He had lessened the impact by throwing himself backwards, but she still felt at least two ribs crack under the pressure.

He reached down and grabbed her ankle, yanking her upward. She felt herself losing her balance and let herself fall a few feet before bracing her hands on the ground, and using her free foot to kick the area just below his left eye. She made contact and his grip on her ankle loosened. She managed to get her ankle free before backing up and getting some distance.

Once there were a good three yards between them, she caught her breath and evaluated the situation. Sasuke's years in Sound and Akatsuki were not wasted. He had not lost any of his speed or endurance. Not to mention the fact that he had adapted so well to his blindness that it was hardly a weakness at all. He wasn't the best for nothing. She was hardly going to give up, because despite all that, he still didn't know the real scope of her strength. She could still beat him.

She then used her chakra to reach into the earth beneath her until she hit something that was neither rock nor dirt. Sakura smirked in triumph. It was just the right size. When she pulled back in her chakra, and prepared to charge, she found that Sasuke had disappeared again.

She paused, but still remained on guard. Where was he? She got her answer a few seconds later when she felt something barely touch the space where her spine meets her neck. Before he could knock her unconscious, she reacted instantaneously, turning faster than she had ever moved before in her life, grabbed the wrist of the hand touching her, and used a chakra enhanced grip to crush every single bone in that joint.

Sasuke jerked back instantly when he felt her grip lighten. She took a moment to think over her plan. She had to drive him at least 6 feet back for her plan to work, but how? Then she remembered the scroll she had stowed in the front pocket of her shorts and pulled it out. She cut her thumb with her teeth and summoned the giant axe she only used for emergencies. It was hardly an emergency, but whatever. It was a seventeenth birthday gift from Tsunade. The first Hokage had it made for Tsunade when she was a child, and Tsunade had given it to Sakura. The fighting style needed to wield it was very difficult for men, and impossible for someone who didn't have their strength. It was perfect for her. Not to mention it was red. Sakura liked red weapons. She didn't have to clean them very often.

Then she went at him with everything she had. The axe was swiping with both strength and speed. Sasuke had trouble staying still for more than a split second. She almost had him. If she could just get him back a few more feet…

Then her axe was stopped. She looked up, more than a little surprised. Sasuke had finally gotten the chance to break out his own weapon, his Kusanagi, and it had stopped her axe. She had forgotten how formidable his sword was. That was when she heard it. It was a sound so light that she thought she had imagined it. It was familiar…

Her eyes widened with horror and the pulled back immediately, having no choice but to throw her weapon aside. Sure enough, her hands felt slightly numb. She knew it. Sasuke had the use of his sword act as a distraction, while he sent a small current chidori through both their weapons. If she had stayed like that for more than a few seconds, then her whole body would have gone numb and she would have had no other choice but to forfeit.

She hissed. Her hands would be slow and difficult to channel chakra through, but not impossible. She took a deep breath. He hadn't moved, so she still just needed to push him a few feet back in order for her plan to work. His sword was still out. He was probably still charging it with chidori, so if he touched her with it for even a second, her whole body would be effected and it would be over.

Then she got an idea and she grinned. It would certainly get him to back up those last few feet, but it was risky and the odds were stacked against her. Naruto would be proud.

She charged him again, but instead of giving him time to either disappear or get her with his now glowing kusanagi, she threw herself downward, her head in a prime position to hit him in just the same spot she had hit earlier. She knew that if she got him there again with enough power, one of the ribs she had broken earlier would almost certainly puncture his lung. He must have known this too, because he pulled back until his vulnerable spot was out of her range.

Inner Sakura (who had been on vacation lately) danced in triumph. Perfect. He was in just the right spot. She then gathered almost all the chakra she had available to her fist and hit the ground with all of it. Then the ground smashed under her and she reached into the earth. In the exact spot she had sensed earlier was a root of the giant tree that grew where Konoha now is. It was dead, so it gave away from the ground easily, but that wasn't the point.

The point was that it was big. Really big. Like the size of a medium tree big. And she was going to hit Sasuke with it. Really hard.

She had to move quickly if this was going to work. He had to not see it coming (metaphorically speaking), which meant she had to hit him while all the debris was still in the air. She had to be completely flawless.

Her timing was perfect, and she hit him with it. Sasuke was completely blindsided. He went flying in the opposite direction where he hit a tree. All this happened in a matter of seconds.

Less than a minute later, when all the debris had settled, she got a good look at Sasuke. He was a mess. His left lung had clearly been punctured by his broken ribs; the area under his left eye was bad (his cheek bone was probably broken). That wrist she crushed looked swollen and black. The impact with the tree had clearly broken his leg.

Sakura stood up straight, a little dizzy from exhaustion. She had won. She was completely satisfied. She had obliterated him.

She walked over, still wobbly. She must have used more chakra than she thought.

When she reached him she leaned close to him, checking to see if any of his wounds were fatal. Her vision started to blur. She really needed to rest after this.

"It's over." She meant to say it to him in a commanding and defiant tone, but it came out light and raspy.

Then vision came back, and she looked him over again. She knew something was wrong immediately. His breathing was normal, his broken bones weren't serious enough to warrant him giving up, and he didn't even seem to be in all that much pain. In fact, she looked at him again. He looked… relaxed.

"Yes, it is." That was Sasuke's voice this time. Her head was spinning now; she knew she was going to collapse.

She tried to get up, but only fell on all fours; her breathing became harsh as she had to fight to stay awake. This wasn't exhaustion or chakra strain. Then she remembered minutes before when she felt Sasuke lightly touch the bottom of the back of her neck. She had assumed that he was trying to knock her out the same way he had before.

How could she fall for such a simple trick? She was a medical ninja for crying out! When he touched her, he had sent the barest hint of a chidori into her system. She hadn't even felt it. Under normal circumstances, it would have done nothing. But she kept pushing herself, making her heart beat faster and faster until that barest hint of electricity had spread though her chakra highway until it reached her heart. That little bit of electricity in her heart was like gum in an engine. It wasn't going to stop her heart, but it had slowed down her system to the point where her body couldn't function normally.

He played her. She had fallen for it all. He was right, she wasn't as smart and strong as she had thought.

She barely remembered Shizune reaching her side before she blacked out. The unpleasant sensation of defeat overwhelmed her, and then there was nothing.

* * *

**AN: I intend for this to be a three part story. **

**The whole thing was supposed to be a prequel to a big story I'm working on, but that depends on if I get good reception from this. **

**This is my first real fic, (although I'm a long time reader) so I'll appreciate any criticism (unless it's just mean and unhelpful).**

**Please tell me what you think! **


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